Okay, let’s talk about dumplings, momos, and dim sum. I’ve always been a bit confused about what’s what, so I decided to dig into it. I started by reading up a bit, you know, the usual online stuff. Turns out, it’s a bit more complicated than I thought!
First, I made some dumplings. The most basic ones. I whipped up a simple dough and made a filling from ground pork, cabbage, and some seasonings. Wrapping them was a bit tricky at first, but I got the hang of it after a few tries. I boiled some and pan-fried others.
- Make the dough
- Prepare the filling with pork, cabbage, etc.
- Wrap the filling in the dough
- Boil or pan-fry
Next up, momos. From what I read, they’re basically dumplings but with different spices, often found in Tibetan and Nepalese cuisine. I found a recipe online and gave it a go. The filling had a bit of a kick to it, thanks to the ginger and some special masala I picked up from an Indian store.
- Look up a momo recipe
- Get the ingredients, including that special masala
- Make the dough (it’s a bit different than the dumpling one)
- Mix up the filling – this one’s got more spices
- Wrap it up, similar to dumplings but some special way
- Steam the momos
Dim sum was a whole other thing. It’s not just one dish, but a whole bunch of small dishes. I went to a local Chinese restaurant that serves dim sum and tried a variety. There were steamed buns, shrimp dumplings, those little sticky rice things, and more. These shrimp dumplings, they are so similar to dumplings but the skin is kind of transparent.
- Find a dim sum place
- Order a bunch of different dishes to try
- Notice how they’re all small and bite-sized
- See how some are steamed, some are fried, some are like soupy
My Conclusion
So, after all that eating and cooking, here’s what I figured out. Dumplings are a broad category. Momos are a type of dumpling, with a distinct flavor profile. Dim sum is a style of eating, a collection of small dishes, which often includes different types of dumplings. The main difference I see between momos and the dumplings I made is just the spice mix in the filling. And the dim sim is like a big dumpling in Australia’s fish and chip shops. Pretty interesting, huh? I even found that Mandu in Korea tastes like Jiaozi in China. Maybe I should give Mandu a try next time!